Review – Wind River Wrangler by Lindsay McKenna

From the moment Roan Taggart picked up the pretty redhead at the Jackson Hole airport, his training and experience told him she was spooked. She’s left New York City to visit the Wind River Ranch, where Roan is a wrangler, and just as he can pick up a horse’s mood, he can feel the tension coming off her body. And that vulnerability is triggering all his protective instincts...

Shiloh Gallagher likes the gray-eyed cowboy’s dry humor—and the Special Forces background that lends him a stoic, powerful presence. But she’s been scarred by trauma and her mother’s murder . . . and knows a strong man can be dangerous. She came to wide-open Wyoming to flee a threat that’s left her unable to write her novels. Now, as she rides horses with Roan and helps him build an isolated cabin, she’s slowly letting down her guard. But danger has followed her west, and they won’t have a future together unless they defeat a killer from her past…

I received this book for free from the Publisher or Author in exchange for an honest review, or I purchased it with my own funds. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I picked this book because as a Wyoming native I’m always interested to see if authors “get” my home state. Lindsay McKenna does a good job capturing the natural beauty and harsh environs of the Wind River Range and nails the cowboy spirit we pride ourselves on. Roan Taggart and Maud Whitcomb epitomize the independence and strength of the state and its people.

Shiloh Gallagher confused me. At times, she was the sassy, strong woman Roan sees her as but most of the time she’s completely paralyzed by her past and her stalker. I can’t fathom how Roan has the patience to wait for her to decide she can commit to a relationship. I was tired early on of her vacillating between wanting Roan and being too afraid to try. It took her forever to sleep with him because of her fear that no relationship would live up to her parents’? The stalker was more understandable but I couldn’t imagine it overriding the growing love she feels for Roan the way it did. That just seemed odd to me. Initially Roan was sweet and so romantic to give her space but I even started thinking less of him for being willing to put up with her. The book was nearly over before the two finally get together.

I also felt the lead up to climax was long and drawn out. There could have been more emphasis on Roan teaching Shiloh self-defense skills and all that body to body contact would have created sexual tension. The reveal of the stalker’s identity could have been more of a puzzle instead of just a blunt stating of who it was. There were a lot of repetitions of thoughts and other inconsistencies.

I kind of loved what ultimately happened to the stalker though it was almost anti-climactic.